Journalism's societal role hinges on effective communication, demanding proficient language skills. This study assesses a South African University of Technology's Department of Journalism, probing existing selection methods' efficacy in predicting success in two English modules. Concerns persist about these methods accurately identifying students…

Higher education in emerging economies has taken advantage of several technology affordances for student assessment in the digital era. However, the use of educational technology remains an area of concern in this context because of unequal technology terrain. This issue is more difficult in distance education, where students live in and work in…

Background: The judicious use of worksheets ought to contribute to the establishment of literacy, with a special significance for multilingual classrooms where neither teachers nor learners are mother tongue speakers of the instructional language. Disparity between the pedagogical intention of the worksheet and learners' interpretation of the…

Purpose: The aim of the article is to develop a framework for assessment for contemporary commercial music (CCM) in a music department that is still organised in a traditional way. Assessment of CCM in tertiary institutions and external graded music exams were described and analysed, followed by the presentation of an assessment framework.…

While many universities have taken steps to recognise teaching in academic promotions, debate continues on the teaching criteria to be used and their evaluation. This article analyses the 10 criteria that inform the evaluation of teaching and eventual promotion decisions at a South African university: rationale for teaching, teaching methods,…

In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeship instead of excellence, qualifications and competency. The appointment of principals in South Africa has, over the years, become politicised and unionised to the extent that it is contextualised within comradeship narratives, thereby negating the…

Work integrated learning (WIL) is an integral part of the curriculum in higher education institutions (HEIs). WIL project leaders require a strategy to evaluate the success of WIL projects. This article reports on the evaluation criteria used in assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) identified in WIL projects. This…

During the past decade, national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) have been developed and implemented across Europe. Triggered by the adoption of the European qualifications framework (EQF) in 2008, these frameworks draw attention to the outcomes of education and training, focusing on what learners are expected to know, understand and are able to…

This paper explores the conflicts engendered during the artist's formation due to repeated submission to assessment in formal creative arts education. In a comparative qualitative study of two visuals arts practice undergraduate curricula, the underlying interpretative approaches to intentionality were uncovered to comprehend the impact of the…

Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are referred to differently in different contexts and circumstances. Related conceptions include 'Traditional Knowledge Systems' (TKS), 'Endogenous Knowledge Systems' (EKS) and 'Classical Knowledge Systems' (CKS). A focus on IKS implies an archaeology and re-appropriation of those knowledges that were not allowed…

National and institutional policies to escalate the production of doctorates have raised concerns about the quality of PhDs in South Africa. This study evaluates examiner reports of doctorates by thesis and publication in clinical medicine to ascertain the criteria that examiners used to define a successful doctoral thesis. A qualitative…

The purpose of this study was to investigate formative postgraduate assessment from an international perspective while acknowledging the two countries' differing cultures and environments. Using a case study approach, data were collected from research supervisors of postgraduate work at a university in the United States (USA) and a university in…

Academic development (AD) programmes for students not complying with the entrance requirements of mainstream programmes in science have been running at a number of universities in South Africa. In this study we contribute to the debate on criteria for the success of AD programmes, specifically in the context of research-intensive universities in…

This study examined preservice teachers' (PSTs) capacity to create mathematical modeling problems (MMPs) for grades 1 to 3. PSTs created MMPs for their choice of grade level and aligned the mathematical content of their MMPs with the relevant mathematics curriculum. PSTs were given criteria adapted from Galbraith's MMP design principles to guide…

Educational literature shows that students from working-class backgrounds are significantly less likely to persist to completion in higher education than middle-class students. This paper draws theoretically and analytically on Bernstein's ([1990. "Class, Codes and Control, Volume IV: The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse." London:…